Talent identified for prestigious short film
commissioning opportunities:

Following the most extensive launch campaign ever undertaken in Scotland, DigiCult has left no stone unturned in selecting a diverse group of writers and directors who will develop short projects for three filmmaking strands: Scottish Digital Shorts, Digital Nation
and 4mations Digital Shorts.

Scotland’s next generation of cinematic talent gather
in the North:

The first stage of development for the talent was a two-day workshop held in Sutherland, northwest Scotland and hosted by veteran Scottish producer Margaret Matheson (American Cousins, Sid and Nancy).

View the gathering on Flickr

The filmmakers now enter an intense development and training phase: working up their projects in one-to-one development meetings with DigiCult and attending the Digital Shorts Workshops at The Script Factory.

All this activity will culminate in up to 6 projects being commissioned for production in Spring/Summer 2009.

The Scottish Digital Shorts 2009 talent pool is:

Kate Burton
Base: Glasgow
Project in development: Ever Here I Be (live action)
Fact: Kate’s research for her project has led to a collaboration with Mercury prize winning artist Mark Melvin.

Stewart Comrie
Base: Crieff/ Aberdeen
Project in development: Battenberg (animation)
Fact: Stewart is a graduate of Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen.

Omar Kholeif
Base: Glasgow
Project in development: The Girl Who Knew Too Much (live action)
Fact: Omar is a new writer with a 1st class degree in Film & TV Studies and Politics.

Gregor Johnstone
Base: Glasgow
Project in development: I’ll Be Right Here (live action)
Fact: Gregor’s project is inspired by a line from Spielberg’s E.T.

Michael Keillor
Base: Dundee/ London
Project in development: Bonding (live action)
Fact: Michael has recently directed two episodes of The Bill.

Katyana Kozikowska
Base: Isle of Skye
Project in development: A Heel on the Hill (live action)
Fact: Kati is a theatre director and drama officer with Eden Court, Inverness.

Matt Lloyd
Base: Edinburgh/ Glasgow
Project in development: The House-Sitters (live action)
Fact: Matt is programmer for Scotland’s newest film festival The Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams, Nairn.

Kenneth Macleod
Base: Isle of Skye
Project in development: Untitled (live action)
Fact: Kenny is a new writer & recent graduate of Screen Academy Scotland.

Ruth Paxton
Base: Edinburgh
Project in development: Paris, Sexy (live action)
Fact: Ruth has also been selected for the UK-wide Cinema Extreme talent pool.

Matt Pinder
Base: Glasgow
Project in development: The Hyakutake Express (live action)
Fact: Matt’s short film The Prayer premiered at Encounters Film Festival 2008

Richard Smith
Base: Glasgow
Project in development: Moses Bellahue (live action)
Fact: Won a BAFTA for Best Television Screenplay in 2002

Jamie Stone
Base: Edinburgh/ Glasgow
Project in development: Magpie (live action)
Fact: Won a Scottish BAFTA for short animation 2008

DigiCult is the national partner of 4mations Digital Shorts, a new intiative set up by UK Film Council and Channel 4 to fund animated shorts across the UK. DigiCult has commissioned one animator in Scotland to make an short animation in 2009:

Iain Gardner
Base: Edinburgh
Commissioned project: The Fox Who Lost His Fur
Fact: Iain is convenor of the Scottish Animation Group.

DigiCult has selected 3 Scottish filmmakers to go forward to Digital Nation, a UK-wide talent pool. Digital Nation is designed for writer/ directors ready to make the leap to more ambitious cinematic short films. The Scottish filmmakers in Digital Nation are Joseph Briffa, Scott Graham and Sarah Tripp.

Details of their projects in development will be updated soon.